British Invasion London Calling

London designer, Allegra Hicks the Queen of Kaftans opened her first flagship store in the U.S. earlier this year on upper Madison Avenue. Known for her bohemian-chic, luxury style Allegra Hicks presents a luxury lifestyle brand that includes timeless resort attire, bold feminine prints and sophisticated interior collections.

As part of the company's global expansion, Allegra decided to launch the full range lifestyle collection in her first freestanding store in the United States. Inspired by the sea with a fusion of classic and contemporary styles, the interior design is a combined creative vision between Allegra and acclaimed husband Ashley Hicks, son of the late British interior designer David Hicks. Born in Turin, Italy, Allegra studied design in Milan and Fine Art in Brussels before moving to New York where she worked for the Artist Donald Baechler. Returning to Europe to pursue her career Allegra moved to London where she married architect and furniture designer Ashley Hicks and continued her professional career specializing in textile design. With an established name in the world of interiors, and a passion for style, fashion and textiles, Allegra decided to launch her own ready-to-wear collection in 1998. Allegra Hicks, a luxury lifestyle company is now comprised of two ready-to-wear and accessory collections, a cruise wear line and home furnishings including beds, baths, table linens, rugs and cushions.

Featured globally in fashion and lifestyle magazines around the world and presenting her collections at London Fashion week twice a year, Allegra Hicks designs reflect her city boho-chic and beach wear style. The Autumn Winter 2007 collection emulates her signature prints, rich velvets and kaftans in true Allegra style. The collection is available online at AllegraHicks.com for phone orders, or if you are visiting Manhattan, stop by the store at: 1007 Madison Avenue and Seventy Seventh Street. As yet, Allegra Hicks is not available in Dallas, but that's part of the invasion tactics! Australian born entrepreneur Nicole Bremmer and founder of Brittique.

com based in London has created one of the hottest online boutiques to recently hit cyber world. Move over net-a-porter.com, if all you crave is upcoming British talent then Brittique.com has got you well and truly covered, with designers such as, Camilla Staerk, Emma Cook, Erdem, Gil Carvalho, Peter Jensen and Basso and Brooke to name but a few, and who are some of the designers featured for Autumn Winter 2007/2008. With a business degree from Queensland in Australia, Nicole embarked on a career in the corporate world and became a young success story within the stock broking industry. Known as the girl who "never wore the same outfit twice", Nicole decided to pursue her dream and launch an online boutique.

In 2006 having gained financial success and with the confidence to go it alone, Nicole quit the financial world and embarked on the launch of Brittique.com. Believing that online shoppers possessed a penchant for the latest fashion and with the desire to support new designers, Nicole combined the appreciation of individuality without compromising quality. Offering the latest fashion, shoes and accessories from the best British designers, these carefully selected collections reflect the key looks of the season. Nicole's hot favorites for Fall include the ankle boot, the perfect dress with an accentuated waist worn with opaque hose and signature bold prints.

Don't worry about orders and shipping, Brittique.com caters to the global customer with prices listed in US dollars and shipping available via UPS. The Autumn Winter 2007/2008 collections will be available online from the middle of August. So if you can't make it to London on a shopping trip, and South Molton Street, Kings Road and New Bond Street are calling your name. Stop at Brittique.

com and get your British designer fix online.

Max Trowbridge contributes to PinkMemo - Dallas Edition, an online Fashion and Shopping publication founded in 2006. http://www.PinkMemo.com